APUSH Unit 7 Vocab

“Muckrakers”

Journalists who searched for and publicized real or alleged acts of corruption of public officials, businessmen, etc. Name coined by Teddy Roosevelt in 1906

Jacob Riis, How the Other Half Lives

Early 1900s writer who exposed social and political evils in the U.S. Muckraker novel

Lincoln Steffens, The Shame of the Cities

A muckraker novel concerning the poor living conditions in the cities

Ida Tarbell (1857-1944), History of the Standard Oil Company

This 1904 book exposed the monopolistic practices of the Standard Oil Company; Strengthened the movement for outlawing monopolies; a muckraker novel

Margaret Sanger

American leader of the movement to legalize birth control during the early 1900s. As a nurse in the poor sections of New York City, she had seen the suffering caused by unwanted pregnancy. Founded the first birth control clinic in the U.S. and the American Birth Control League, which later became Planned Parenthood

Initiative

people have the right to propose a new law

Referendum

a law passed by the legislature can be referred to the people for approval/veto

Recall

the people can petition and vote to have an elected official removed from office. These all made elected officials more responsible and sensitive to the needs of the people, and part of the movement to make government more efficient and scientific

Direct Primary

An election where people directly elect their party’s candidates for office. Candidates had previously been selected by party caucuses that were considered elitist and undemocratic. This made elected officials more accountable to the people

16th Amendment

authorized Congress to levy an income tax

17th Amendment

gave the power to elect senators to the people. Senators had previously been appointed by the legislatures of their states

18th Amendment

prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages

19th Amendment

gave women the right to vote

Triangle Shirtwaist Company Fire

A factory fire in New York that killed 146 people, mostly women. They died because the doors were locked, and the windows were too high for them to get to the ground. Dramatized the poor working conditions and led to federal regulations to protect workers

Anti-Saloon League

National organization set up in 1895 to work for prohibition. Later joined with the WCTU to publicize the effects of drinking

Square Deal

Roosevelt used this term to declare that he would use his powers as president to safeguard the rights of the workers

Forest Reserve Act, 1891

First national forest conservation policy, authorized the president to set aside areas of land for national forests

Newlands Reclamation Act, 1902

Authorized the use of federal money to develop the West, it helped to protect national resources

“Trustbuster”

Nicknamed for Teddy Roosevelt, this is a federal official who seeks to dissolve monopolistic trusts through vigorous enforcement of antitrust laws

Upton Sinclair, The Jungle

The author who wrote a book about the horrors of food productions in 1906, the bad quality of meat and the dangerous working conditions

Meat Inspection Act

Laid down binding rules for sanitary meat packing and government inspection of meat products crossing state lines

Pure Food and Drug Act

Forbade the manufacture or sale of mislabeled or adulterated food or drugs, it gave the government broad powers to ensure the safety and efficacy of drugs in order to abolish the “patent” drug trade. Still in existence as the FDA

Scientific Management, Frederick W. Taylor

Increased industrial output by rationalizing and refining the production process

City Manager Plan, Commission Plan

Legislation designed to break up political machines and replace traditional political management of cities with trained professional urban planners and managers

Taft-Roosevelt split

They split over ideology. Roosevelt believed in breaking up “bad” trusts while allowing “good” trusts to continue. Taft opposed all trusts. Roosevelt wanted more involvement in foreign affairs, and Taft was an isolationist. Roosevelt ran against Taft in 1912

Bull Moose Party

was Roosevelt’s party in the 1912 election. He ran as a Progressive against Republican Taft, beating him but losing to Democrat Woodrow Wilson.

Woodrow Wilson’s New Freedom

He believed that monopolies had to be broken up and that the government must regulate business. He believed in competition

Theodore Roosevelt’s New Nationalism

A system in which government authority would be balanced and coordinate economic activity. Government would regulate business. It emphasized social justice and welfare programs, advocating for women's suffrage and labor rights.

Election of 1912

Wilson, Democrat beat Roosevelt, Progressive (Bull Moose), Taft, Republican and Debs, Socialist. The issues were the economy and growing conflict in EuropeFederal

Federal Reserve Act

Regulated banking to help small banks stay in business. A move away from laissez-faire policies, it was passed by Wilson

IWW, Wobblies

Denounced populists because they believed in free enterprise. Haywood was the leader of this group. The International Workers of the World were a militant, radical Union. They favored socialism and opposed free enterprise. They were disliked by big business and less radical unions

Federal Trade Commission

A government agency established in 1914 to prevent unfair business practices and help maintain a competitive economy

Clayton Antitrust Act

1914 - Extended the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 to give it more power over trusts and big business. It outlawed practices that had a dangerous likelihood of creating a monopoly, even if no unlawful agreement was involved

Federal Highways Act, 1916

Passed by Wilson, it provided federal money to build roads. It helped to provide competition to the railroads’ monopoly on public transportation

Adamson Act, 1916

Mandated an eight-hour workday and time and a half for overtime

Porgressive Party

Interested in establishing a more transparent and accountable government which would work to improve U.S. society. These reformers favored such policies as civil service reform, food safety laws, and increased political rights for women and U.S. workers

Seward’s Folly

The name given to the purchase of Alaska in 1867 for $7.2million; American saw no value in Alaskan land

“Yellow Journalism”

The term used to describe the sensationalist newspaper writings of the time. They were written on cheap yellow paper. The most famous yellow journalist was William Randolph Hearst. It was considered tainted journalism - omissions and half-truths

Josiah Strong, Our Country

In this book, Strong argued that the American country and people were superior because they were Anglo-Saxon.

Alfred Thayer Mahan

In 1890, he wrote The Influence of Sea Power upon History. He was a proponent of building a large navy. He said that a new, modern navy was necessary to protect the international trade American depended on.

De Lomé Letter

Written by the Spanish minister in Washington, it was stolen from the mail and delivered to Hearst. He had called McKinley weak and bitter. It was played up by the yellow journalists.

Maine explodes

February 15, 1898 - An explosion from a mine in the Bay of Havana crippled this warship. The U.S. blamed Spain for the incident and used it as an excuse to go to war with Spain.

Annexation of Hawaii

By the late 1800s, U.S. had exclusive use of Pearl Harbor. In July 1898, Congress made Hawaii a U.S. territory, for the use of the islands as naval ports

Queen Liliuokalani

Queen of Hawaii who gave the U.S. naval rights to Pearl Harbor in 1887. Deposed by American settlers in 1893.

Rough Riders, San Juan Hill

1898 - Theodore Roosevelt formed the volunteers to fight in the Spanish-American War in Cuba. They charged up San Juan Hill during the battle of Santiago. It made Roosevelt popular.

Treaty of Paris 1898

Approved by the Senate on February 6, 1898, it ended the Spanish-American War. The U.S. gained Guam, Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines.

American Anti-Imperialist League

A league containing anti-imperialist groups; it was never strong due to indifference on domestic issues and isolationists.

Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico, Cuba

The U.S. acquired these territories from Spain through the Treaty of Paris 1898, which ended the Spanish-American War.

Insular cases

Determined that inhabitants of U.S. territories had the same, but not all, of the rights of U.S. citizens

Teller Amendment

April 1896 - U.S. declared Cuba free from Spain, but this amendment disclaimed any American intention to annex Cuba.

Platt Amendment

A rider to the Army Appropriations Bill of 1901, it specified the conditions under which the U.S. could intervene in Cuba’s internal affairs, and provided that Cuba could not make a treaty with another nation that might impair its independence. Its provisions were later incorporated into the Cuban Constitution

Open Door notes

September 1899 - Hay sent imperialist nations a note asking them to offer assurance that they would respect the principle of equal trade opportunities, specifically in the China market.

Spheres of Influence

Region in which political and economic control is exerted by one European nation to the exclusion of all others.

Boxer Rebellion

1900 - a secret Chinese society called this because their symbol was a fist revolted against foreigners in their midst and laid siege to foreign legislation in Beijing.

Big Stick Diplomacy

Roosevelt said, “walk softly and carry a big stick.” In international affairs, ask first but bring along a big army to help convince them. Threaten to use force, act as international policemen. It was his foreign policy in Latin America

Panama Revolution

The Isthmus of Panama had been part of Columbia. U.S. tried to negotiate with Columbia to build the Panama Canal. Columbia refused, so U.S. encouraged Panama to revolt. Example of Big Stick diplomacy

Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty

1903 - U.S. guaranteed the independence of the newly created republic of Panama

Roosevelt Corollary

U.S. would act as international policemen. An addition to the Monroe Doctrine

Russo-Japanese War, Treaty of Portsmouth

Japan had attacked the Russian Pacific fleet over Russia’s refusal to withdraw its troops from Manchuria after the Boxer Rebellion (1904-1905). War fought mainly in Korea. Japan victorious, the U.S. mediated the end of the war. Negotiating the treaty in the U.S. increased U.S. prestige. Roosevelt received a Nobel Peace Prize for the mediation.

Gentlemen’s Agreement

In 1907 Theodore Roosevelt arranged with Japan that Japan would voluntarily restrict the emigration of its nationals to the U.S.

Great White Fleet

1907-1909 - Roosevelt sent the Navy on a world tour to show the world the U.S. naval power. Also, to pressure Japan into the “Gentlemen’s Agreement"

“Dollar Diplomacy”

Taft and Knox came up with it to further foreign policy in the U.S in 1909-1913 under the Roosevelt Corollary. It was meant to avoid military intervention by giving foreign countries monetary aid.

Jones Act, 1917

Puerto Ricans won U.S. citizenship and the right to elect their own upper house

Pancho Villa, General Pershing

1916 - Villa attacked Columbus, New Mexico and Pershing was directed to follow him into Mexico. Pershing was met with resistance and eventually left without finding Pancho Villa.

Triple Entente: Allies

Britain, France, and Russia all had economic and territorial ambitions and they all disliked Germany, so they formed an alliance for protection

Triple Alliance: Central Powers

Germany, Austria, and Hungary formed an alliance for protection from the Triple Entente

Lusitania

May 7, 1915 - British passenger ships were regularly sunk by German subs, but this ship had Americans aboard and brought the U.S. into the war.

Unrestricted submarine warfare

this was the German practice of attacking all shipping to countries it was at war with. It annoyed neutral countries.

Zimmerman note

1917 - Germany sent this to Mexico instructing an ambassador to convince Mexico to go to war with the U.S. It was intercepted and caused the U.S. to mobilize against Germany, which had proven it was hostile.

Russian Revolution, 1917

After years of oppression, the peasants rebelled against the czars. The first government was democratic and weak, so another revolution overthrew that government and instituted a Communist government lead by the Bolshevik party under Lenin. Lenin pulled Russia out of WWI

“Make the world safe for democracy”

Wilson gave this as a reason for U.S. involvement in WWI.

War Industries Board

The most powerful agency of the war, it had to satisfy the Allied needs for goods and direct American industries in what to produce.

Espionage Act, 1917; Sedition Act, 1918

Brought forth under the Wilson administration, they stated that any treacherous act or draft dodging was forbidden, outlawed disgracing the government, the Constitution, or military uniforms, and forbade aiding the enemy

Schenk v. U.S.

This court case takes away your right to freedom of speech if it puts others in danger. While it was originally about mailing pamphlets urging people to resist the draft, the application was your freedom of speech is limited if you put others in “clear or present danger”.

American Expiditionary Force

the first American ground troops to reach the European front. Commanded by Pershing, they began arriving in France in the summer of 1917.

Selective Service 1917

Stated that all men between the ages of 20 and 45 had to be registered for possible military service. Used in case draft became necessary

Great Migration

During WWI, southern Blacks began to move North, where there were more jobs and less racism. The increased number of Blacks led to a white backlash and conditions like Southern racism.

Fourteen points

Wilson’s ideas that he wanted included in the WWI peace treaty, including freedom of the seas and the League of Nations.

Versailles Treaty

the peace treaty that ended WWI on June 28, 1919. Victorious Allies imposed punitive reparations on Germany.

League of Nations

Devised by President Wilson, it reflected the power of large countries. Although comprised of delegates from every country, it was designed to be run by a council of the five largest countries. It also included a provision for a world court

Red Scare, Palmer raids

the Communist Party was gaining strength in the U.S., and Americans feared Communism. In January 1920, Palmer raids in 33 cities broke into meeting halls and homes without warrants. 4,000 “Communists” were jailed, some were deported

Normalcy

Harding wanted a return to “this” - the way life was before WWI

Teapot Dome Scandal

1929 - The Naval strategic oil reserve at Elk Hills was taken out of the Navy’s control and placed in the hands of the Department of the Interior, which leased the land to oil companies. Several Cabinet members received huge payments as bribes

“The Lost Generation”

Writer Gertrude Stein named the new literary movement when she told Hemingway, “You are all a lost generation,” referring to the many restless young writers who gathered in Paris after WWI. Hemingway used the quote in The Sun Also Rises. They thought that the U.S. was materialistic and they criticized conformity

F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Most critics regard this as his finest work. Written in 1925, it tells of an idealist who is gradually destroyed by the influence of the wealthy, pleasure-seeking people around him

Volstead Act

Defined what drinks constituted “intoxicating liquors” under the 18th Amendment and set penalties for violations of prohibition. Al Capone: In Chicago, he was one of the most famous leaders of organized crime of the era

Ku Klux Klan in the 1920’s

Based on the post-Civil War terrorist organization, the Invisible Empire of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan was founded in Georgia in 1915 by William Simmons to fight the growing “influence” of Blacks, Jews and Catholics in U.S. society. It experienced phenomenal growth in the 1920s, especially in the Midwest and Ohio Valley states. Its peak membership came in 1924 at 3 million members, but its reputation for violence led to rapid decline by 1929

Fundamentalists

Broad movement in Protestantism in the U.S. Immigration Acts, 1920, 1924, which tried to preserve what it considered the basic ideas of Christianity against criticism by liberal theologies. It stressed the literal truths of the Bible and creation.

Immigration Acts, 1921, 1924, Quota System

1921 - First legislation passed which restricted the number of immigrants. Quota was 357,800, which let in only 2% of the number of people of that nationality that were allowed in 1890. 1924 - Limited the number of immigrants to 150,000 per year

Sacco and Vanzetti case

these Italian immigrants were charged with murdering a guard and robbing a shoe factory in Braintree, Mass. The trial lasted from 1920-1927. Convicted on circumstantial evidence, many believed they had been framed for the crime because of their anarchist and pro-union activities.

Billy Sunday

Baseball player and preacher, his baseball background helped him become the most popular evangelist minister of the time. Part of the Fundamentalist revival of the 1920s.

Scopes trial

1925 - Prosecution of Dayton, Tennessee school teacher, John Scopes, for violation of the Butler Act, a Tennessee law forbidding public schools from teaching about evolution. Former Democratic presidential candidate, William Jennings Bryan, prosecuted the case, convinced and fined $100, but the trial started a shift of public opinion away from Fundamentalism

Henry Ford, the Model T

1913 - Ford developed the mass-produced car, which sold at an affordable price. It pioneered the use of the assembly line. Also greatly increased his workers’ wages and instituted many modern concepts of regular work hours and job benefits

The Jazz Singer

1927 - The first movie with sound, this “talkie” was about the life of the famous jazz singer, Al Jolson.

New Woman, Flappers

1920s - Women started wearing short skirts and bobbed hair and had more sexual freedom. They began to abandon traditional female roles and take jobs usually reserved for men

Harlem Renaissance

Harlem was a center for black writers, musicians, and intellectuals who expressed feelings and experiences, especially about the injustices of Jim Crow.

Langston Hughes

a gifted writer who wrote humorous poems, stories, essays and poetry

Marcus Garvey, Universal Negro Improvement Association

Black leader who advocated “black nationalism,” and financial independence for Blacks, he started the “Back to Africa” movement. He believed Blacks would not get justice in mostly white nations

Birth of a Nation

Movie that portrayed KKK members during Reconstruction as HEROS

Charles Lindbergh

flew his airplane, the Spirit of St. Louis, across the Atlantic in the first transatlantic solo flight